Dear Incompass community,
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since we launched the Incompass brand to much fanfare! While I love our new logo, what I truly appreciated was the deliberative process behind the creation of the brand. And as I sit here today reading through some of that foundational work, I’m trying to contain my excitement for the path our agency is carving out in the human services space.
Let’s start with our brand position:
“Innovating to help the most vulnerable thrive.”
We live this statement every day, and it’s this aspect of our culture that has helped us and the people we serve to stay connected throughout the pandemic. But beyond adapting to the external environment, it’s become a core focus at Incompass – at all levels of the agency.
More important is how we define innovation at Incompass. Innovation isn’t merely defined by technology; it’s defined by new ideas and initiatives that advance our mission to empower individuals in need of human services to experience full lives. We’re bringing on new programs, adding new supports, launching new technology, and creating new ways to help the people we serve thrive.
Let me share just a few examples of innovation in action at Incompass:
- ABI Supports and Group Home: As part of our strategic plan, we have launched programs to support people with acquired brain injuries. Working with the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), we completed construction on a new fully accessible group home in Tyngsborough designed specifically for the ABI population and moved in five residents. We were also just selected by the MRC to expand our ABI portfolio to provide a range of facility-based and community support services, as well as transitional assistance to those seeking to live more independently. In the coming years, we anticipate helping a number of individuals with ABI in the Northeast Region to secure affordable apartments along with meaningful day or employments supports.
- Adaptive Technology: We have created an ad-hoc technology committee, chaired by board member and senior engineer at iRobot Jon Seward, that has just launched an industry-first adaptive technology initiative. Cloud-based sleep tracking devices have been installed in a select number of group homes that will for the first time provide sleep health metrics to our clinical team. With this data, Incompass nurses will be able to identify sleep disorders and other factors leading to sleep loss that can adversely impact the health and well-being of the people we serve.
- Virtual Programming: While we don’t know if the state will continue to support virtual programming in 2022, one thing is clear that our virtual program portfolio is here to stay! Our clinical specialists have embraced this platform to not only keep people engaged who are not able to attend a facility-based program but to supplement the activities that are core to our day programs.
- Autism Coaching: On the heels of our award-winning Strive2Thrive program for people with autism without an intellectual disability, DDS awarded Incompass a contract to expand our portfolio for people with autism. For the first time, our team is now offering life coaching and college navigation services to the people with autism in our programs. We’ve hired a highly-qualified Care Champion to oversee this program, who himself is an alumnus of the Urban Youth Scholars program.
These are just a few of the examples of innovation that keep driving our agency, and there are countless more I could share. Our Care Champions are as creative as they come when it comes to evolving our service model, and it’s one of the many reasons why our funders continue to choose Incompass Human Services to offer new and vital services to the community.
I wish you all a safe and healthy fall season, filled with pumpkin spice lattes and apple cider donuts!
Respectfully,
Jean Phelps, CEO
It’s inspiring to hear the very positive and forward thinking initiatives that Incompass has launched. I have been watching your messaging and seeing the enthusiasm of your team and it’s uplifting. It will be interesting to hear the impact of the sleep studies – there is so much news about how lack of sleep affects us mentally and physically. Also new and interesting to watch is the Autism Coaching and college navigation services. I love seeing the changes being made that tie to all the news read over the years about new insights. Thank you for sharing!!